Trump’s Sketch of Empire State Building Fetches $16,000 at Auction

A black-marker drawing of the Empire State Building by President Trump — an artifact from his days as a voracious Manhattan real estate mogul — sold at auction Thursday night for $16,000.

According to Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles, where the sale took place, Mr. Trump created the 12-by-9-inch drawing at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for a charity auction that took place in 1995. At the time, the signed sketch sold for less than $100.

It’s not the first work of art by Mr. Trump to fall into the eager hands of collectors in the wake of his presidency. In July, a similarly sized drawing of a more comprehensive Manhattan skyline sold for $29,000 at Nate D. Sanders Auctions.

Mr. Trump’s history with the Empire State Building fills a dramatic chapter in the annals of hallowed Manhattan real estate. In 1994, Mr. Trump announced that he’d acquired 50 percent of the title to the 102-story Fifth Avenue icon, which he claimed had fallen from its “rightful position as a world-class real-estate asset.”

Mr. Trump’s sketch was created while he was still pursuing the prized property. A representative of Julien’s Auctions wrote in a statement that the artwork “symbolized his ascent” through the ranks of New York power brokers.

A portion of the proceeds, to be matched by the auction house, will go to a National Public Radio station in Connecticut. The buyer was not identified.